Lynton Ross "Dusty" Boggess (June 7, 1904 – July 8, 1968) was an American
umpire
An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection.
The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...
in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
who worked in the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
from 1944 to 1962. He umpired in four World Series and in four All-Star Games.
Early life
Boggess was born in
Terrell, Texas
Terrell is a city in Kaufman County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 17,465. Terrell is located about east of Dallas.
History
Terrell developed as a railroad town, beginning in 1873 with construction here ...
, and attended
Waco High School
Waco High School is a public high school located in the city of Waco, Texas and classified as a 6A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Waco Independent School District located in central McLennan County. In 2015, the school was rated “Im ...
in
Waco, Texas
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...
. He played pro baseball for a
Cleburne, Texas
Cleburne is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 29,337. The city is named in honor of Patrick Cleburne, a Confederate general. Lake Pat Cleburne, the reservoir that pro ...
team under the fitting alias of "Bogus" at age 16. He was disqualified from high school competition when this was discovered.
Minor leagues
He enjoyed a minor league playing career through 1933, primarily in the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
system. During that time, he played every field position; on three occasions he played every position in a single game. He was also a
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
in his last two seasons, and in 1932 he spent his life savings on a minor league team, the
Muskogee Chiefs of the Class C
Western Association
The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Western ...
. He operated the team virtually singlehandedly, but the venture failed financially in the midst of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
.
After the 1933 season he turned to officiating amateur baseball,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
and
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
games. His first chance in baseball's minor leagues came in 1939, and he had to hitchhike from Texas to South Dakota to begin work. A bout with high blood pressure in 1943 delayed his entry to the major leagues for a year.
Major league career
After reaching the majors, he officiated in the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
in
1950,
1952 (outfield only),
1956 and
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
, serving as crew chief for the last; he was the second base umpire for
Don Larsen
Don James Larsen (August 7, 1929 – January 1, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher. During a 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched from 1953 to 1967 for seven different teams: the St. Louis Browns / Baltimore O ...
's
perfect game
Perfect game may refer to:
Sports
* Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners
* Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game
* Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...
in the 1956 Series. He also umpired in the
All-Star Game
An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...
in 1946, 1952, 1955 and 1960 (both games), calling balls and strikes for the second half of the first 1960 game, and in the three-game playoffs to determine the NL champion in
1946
Events January
* January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
* January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...
,
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
and
1962. He was the home plate umpire on July 31, 1954, when
Joe Adcock
Joseph Wilbur Adcock (October 30, 1927 – May 3, 1999) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1950 to 1966, most prominently as a member of the Milwaukee Braves team ...
hit
four home runs and a
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* Th ...
, and was the first base umpire for the first of
Sandy Koufax
Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...
' four
no-hitter
In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...
s on June 30, 1962. Upon retiring in 1962, he received the first
Bill Klem
William Joseph Klem, born William Joseph Klimm (February 22, 1874 – September 16, 1951), known as the "Old Arbitrator" and the "father of baseball umpires", was a National League (NL) umpire in Major League Baseball from 1905 to 1941. He worked ...
Award from the
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
chapter of the
BBWAA as baseball's top umpire.
Later life
Boggess, who also worked as a
scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
**Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
**Scouts BSA, sectio ...
for the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
as well as the
NFL's
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
, later became a brewery representative. He wrote an autobiography, ''Kill the Ump!: My 42 Years in Baseball'', in which he controversially suggested that the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
had blown the
1962 NL pennant by focusing on
Maury Wills
Maurice Morning Wills (October 2, 1932 – September 19, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1959 through 1966 and the latter part of ...
' pursuit of the single-season
stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...
record. Boggess died of a lung ailment at age 64 in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
'
Parkland Hospital
Parkland often refers to a park.
Parkland or Parklands may also refer to:
Geography
* Aspen parkland, a biome transitional between prairie and boreal forest (taiga)
* Landscaped parkland, a managed rural area associated with European country hous ...
,
[ and was buried in Dallas' ]Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery is a multi-faith cemetery located at 7405 West Northwest Highway in North Dallas, Texas ( USA). It is owned by Service Corporation International. Among the notable persons interred here are:
*Mary Kay Ash ( ...
with a souvenir baseball he had kept which was autographed by every other umpire with whom he had worked.
Works
See also
* List of Major League Baseball umpires
The following is a list of major league baseball umpires. The list includes umpires who worked in any of four 19th century major leagues (American Association, National Association, Players' League, Union Association), one defunct 20th century m ...
References
External links
Retrosheet
The Dead Ball Era
- ''New York Times'' obituary
Dusty Boggess
- Baseballbiography.com
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boggess, Dusty
1904 births
1968 deaths
People from Terrell, Texas
People from Waco, Texas
Major League Baseball umpires
Waco High School alumni
Bartlesville Broncos players
Beaumont Exporters players
Cleburne Generals/Scouts players
Dallas Steers players
Denver Bears players
El Dorado Lions players
Galveston Buccaneers players
Houston Buffaloes players
Longview Cannibals players
Marlin Bathers players
Mount Pleasant Cats players
San Antonio Bears players
Springfield Senators players
Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players
Waco Cubs players
Waco Indians players
Burials at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery